MEMORY TEXT: ďBut if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto themĒ (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

Do you know the value of precious stones? Personally, I couldnít tell a diamond from a piece of window glass. The story is told of a rock collector who hunted for rocks and then sold them to other collectors or jewelry makers.

While on a dig, this collector found a rock he described as "pretty and big." He tried unsuccessfully to sell the specimen, in the meantime keeping the rock under his bed or in his closet. He guessed the blue chunk could bring as much as $500 dollars, but he would have taken less if something urgent came up, like paying his power bill.

That's how close he came to selling for a few hundred dollars what turned out to be the largest, most valuable sapphire ever found. The blue rock that he had abandoned to the darkness of a closet -- now known as "The Star of David" sapphire -- weighs nearly a pound, and could easily sell for $2.75 million.

Jesus said that the gospel is like hidden treasure. But why does God hide the gospel? The answer is, He doesnít. The problem is that many have eyes, but they donít see; they have ears, but they donít hear; they have intellect, but they donít understand the treasure that is there. The man in the parable saw the treasure and knew it was valuable. He hid the box back in the earth again and then went home and sold everything he had in order to collect the money to buy the field so that the treasure could be his.

When the famous missionary, Dr. David Livingstone, started his trek across Africa he had 73 books in 3 packs, weighing 180 pounds. After the party had gone 300 miles, Livingstone was obliged to throw away some of the books because of the fatigue of those carrying his baggage. As he continued on his journey his library grew less and less, until he had but one book left--his Bible.